Knee problems and Specialized shoes?
 

Anyone else start experiencing knee problems after switching to Specialized shoes? I know they have a variety of ergonomic features intended to reduce knee strain, but it sure seems that in my case they caused it. I had the cleats in the same place, but last fall my knees started to get really bad to the point where I quit riding. I've NEVER had issues like that before on the bike.

Or maybe it's the added stiffness of the carbon soles, because it didn't go away when I switched to other shoes with carbon soles.

Thanks.

Have you gotten a proper fitting? Seen an orthopedist?

I had major problems when I started using Specialized BG mtn bike shoes. I didn't read the promo stuff in the box and just assumed that it was like their other Body Geometry stuff, design to ergonomically support normal body position. But the shoes are essentially corrective footwear. I never had Knee problems before. The varus wedge is to correct pronation, which I did not do. The shoes fit great and held up super but it took me almost a year to fully recover and get my smooth pedal stroke back and lose the knee pain. I wish Specialized offered shoes in regular and BG, I would get the regular but I can't use their shoes with BG, they screwed my knees up big time.

OP: try "opposite" shims that came with the insoles.

No, I did not.

I have the exact same issue right now, how do I use these wedges?

There should be a little booklet that came with the shims. If not, your local Specialized dealer should have the information.

Yes, specialized shoes correct forefoot pronation with a varus wedge. 90% of humans have this condition, but if you fall in the ten percent that do not, these shoes can really mess with your knees. I speak from experience.

The Specialized footbeds with the shims are AWESOME. They actually helped my knee pain significantly. It took experimentation to find where I wanted them, though, but I carried them over to my new Sidis when I killed my Riatas.

Also, if you don't know if you've got a high instep or not you may want to get your footbeds selected for you by a bike shop with a Specialized footy thingy. If you end up with footbeds with too high an arch for your foot shape you are going to die of foot cramps.

I wanted to bump this back up... Since switching to Specialized shoes, Ive started having some knee pain as well.. and Ive NEVER had knee pain before. After reading this thread, I pulled out my Sidis (Which are too big, why I went to the Specialized to begin with) and started riding them again and I haven't had a twinge of pain since.

Im going to see if I still have the literature that came with the insoles and look it over. I do have the wedges, they're still in the insole packaging. Its hard for me to find shoes that fit me, I have kind of wide feet. Specialized and the Sidi Megas are about the only thing that fit me so it would be nice if I can make them work.

Since the Specialized shoes have a varus wedge built into the shoe already I would think you could have used the dark valgus wedge by themselves to decrease the amount of cant. I don't know that it would set you back to zero but maybe close enough to make them wearable.

If yours are like my Specialized shoes (I have the Sport model) you have to put a little wedge shim on the inside to make the cleat lay flat. I tried putting the shim on the outside instead. You get a very slight rocking motion, which I assume is from the cleat not being perfectly flat, but it works. You might want to try that, but in my desperation for solving my knee problems (after reading this thread a month ago) got a pair of old Sidis (G2 with those fugly bright colors, but they didn't break the bank) for now to see if that doesn't help the problem.

you put the shim against the pedal or inside the shoe itself?

Shim goes inside the shoe....White coloured shim for varus wedge and dark colour for valgus (sp?)....dark will basically return foot to neutral position...White will increase cant of foot...

Sorry I just realized the shims I'm talking about came with the pedals (Speedplay) and not the shoes. They shim the cleat.

same here, same with my gf.
Never again.

So whats the deal. Do the shoes not work for 10% of the people, or do the shoes have inserts that will switch it to work with the 10% of other people?

I bought a new pair of Specialized Shoes, and my knees have hurt ever since. I've had everthing checked out.
I've gone back to Shimano shes and now my knees are back to normal... and they are more comfortable too.

Too bad Specialized doesn't go back to normal footbeds and maybe offer a wedge for the 10% who actually like their current shoes. I love Specialized products, but can't stand their shoes.

I'm having ITB issues after switching to the MTB BG shoes. They are comfortable for walking, but my feet cramp and ITB hurts at the end of the day.

I had some pain in one knee for the first week or two when switching to BG shoes. Two things fixed it: moving the cleat a touch back and paying closer attention to toe in alignment (I toe in more with these shoes than others, putting my foot in a more "neutral" position). Now, my knees are happy and I think I have more power and definitely more comfort. These shoes do change your position and pedal style, so you have to take some time to get used to it and dial in the fit. That new position is probably wrong for some, but for many, it may be more just being used to a previously bad position. Ever move your saddle too much at once, even though you were moving it to what ultimately would be the right spot? I think it's like that. Unfortunately, with these shoes, there is no intermediate position to help you get used to them, so I recommend laying off on the big gears for the first week or two.